Monday, November 29, 2010

'Empire Strikes Back' director Kershner dies in L – The film director Irvin Kershner is seen in France in 2007. Ke

CNBC

PARIS (AFP) – US director Irvin Kershner, renowned for making the second Star Wars film, "The Empire Strikes Back", has died in Los Angeles, his goddaughter Adriana Santini told AFP on Monday. He was 87 years old.

Kershner, who besides the 1980 sci-fi epic also directed Sean Connery as James Bond in "Never Say Never Again" (1983) and Peter Weller in "Robocop II" (1990), died at home after a long illness, said Santini, who lives in France.

Born in Philadelphia in 1923, Kershner trained as a musician and in photography before starting making documentaries and then feature films.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

“Surely you can’t be serious? I am serious and don’t call me Shirley”.

Actor Leslie Nielsen, best known for his film roles in "Airplane" and "The Naked Gun" series, died Sunday November 28 of complications from pneumonia, his family said. Nielsen, 84, died in a hospital near his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, surrounded by his wife and friends.

Leslie William Nielsen was born on February 11, 1926 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canad and grew up 200 miles from the Arctic Circle in Fort Norman where his father was officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He was often beaten by his father and when he turned 17 he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. After World War II he became a disc jockey then trained at a Toronto radio school operated by Lorne Greene. A scholarship to the Neighborhood Playhouse brought him to New York where he began his career in television. He made over 150 TV appearances. His first film role was in “Forbidden Planet” and his best dramatic roles was as the captain of the ocean liner in “The Poseidan Adventure” (1972), but he’s best remembered for his role in “Airplane” and “Naked Gun”. Nielsen appeared in one Euro-western “Four Rode Out” (1970) with Sue Lyons and Pernell Roberts.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Christopher Dylan Shea Passed away on August 19th of natural causes near his home in Honeydew, California. Born on February 5, 1958 in Los Angeles, Christopher had made Humboldt County his home for over twenty years. As a young boy, Christopher acted in such iconic television shows as The Odd Couple, Bonanza, and Green Acres, as well as numerous appearances in the Sunday evening classic series The Wonderful World of Disney. His most recognized role was that of voicing the character of Linus Van Pelt in the original Charles Schulz's Peanuts television specials, A Charlie Brown Christmas and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown among others. Christopher was a colorful person with a playful spirit and a big heart. His smile was contagious and his family enjoyed his wonderfully sincere hugs. Christopher influenced many who crossed his path in a positive and creative way: he frequently lent a hand to others when they were in need. He had a generous nature and took genuine pleasure in other people's good fortune. He loved communing with nature, listening to music, and he had a lifelong passion for literature. Christopher was a loving father, a devoted son, and a caring brother and uncle. He is deeply missed by all who knew and loved him. Christopher is survived by his wife Sara Straton, and his beloved daughters, Nicea Straton-Shea and Teal Straton-Shea. A memorial service will be held on Sunday, October 17, 2010. Care is under the direction of Pierce Mortuary, Eureka, Washington.

She added that she wanted her mother to be remembered as the Countess Dracula with the "wonderful teeth and the wonderful bosom".

'Gloriously uninhibited'

Official Hammer historian Marcus Hearn paid tribute to the star, calling her a "talented actress and fine writer". All fans of Hammer and of British horror are going to miss her terribly” He added: "She was partly responsible for ushering in a bold and brazen era of sexually explicitly horror films in the 1970s, but that should not denigrate her abilities as an actress." A good friend of the actress, Mr Hearn said she was "gloriously uninhibited" and "great fun to be with".

Although she was not the first female star of a Hammer film, Mr Hearn said she had always been "very proud" of becoming the first prominent female protagonist in a Hammer after her role in The Vampire Lovers.

She began her career with fairly minor roles in several Spanish films in the mid-1960s.

But in 1968 she landed a supporting role in war movie Where Eagles Dare, appearing alongside Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton.

The actress got her breakthrough role two years later in the horror thriller The Vampire Lovers, which was a box office success.

Several Hammer movies followed, firmly establishing her as one of the key women of British horror of the 1970s.

Her other film credits included The Wicker Man (1973), Who Dares Wins (1982), Smiley's People (1982) and Wild Geese II (1985).

Pitt made regular appearances at horror conventions and penned several books about her career in the genre.

Monday, November 22, 2010

I’ve just found out from Matt Blake’s website ‘The Wild Eye’ that Rosemary Dexter passed away this past September 8, 2010. She was only 66. Rosemary was born on July 19, 1944 in Quetta, Pakistan to British parents. She moved to Italy in the late 1950s and decided to become an actress. Her first film was 1963's “Omicron” in 1968 she appeared in “Romeo and Juliet” directed by Franco Zeffirelli. Rosemary appeared in three Euro-westerns: “For a Few Dollars More” (1964) as Col. Mortimer’s sister seen in the flashback scene with Peter Lee Lawrence and Gian Maria Volonte. In 1967 she appeared as Katy in “The Dirty Outlaws” with Chip Corman (Andrea Giordana) and in 1969 “In the Name of the Father” as Miss Baxter, directed by Ruggero Deodato and starring Paolo Villaggio. In all she appeared in over 30 films as well as in a 1975 Playboy layout. She retired from the film industry in the mid-‘70s. Being a friend of Count Vanni and his family she moved to Via Leopardi in Recanati, Italy. She had been suffering from a long term illness.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Tony Alda was the only child of his father's second marriage (Robert Alda and first wife Joan Browne, Alan's mom, divorced in 1957), was born in Saint-Julien, France, in 1956 and spent his first six years in Europe, where his father did film and stage work. Later, during the family's periods back in New York City, he got to know his half brother, who's 20 years older. "We'd go to Alan's place in New Jersey," he says. "His oldest daughter, Eve, was about my age, so I would play with her. We would get together on birthdays." And as a step-mom-and-stepson act, says Tony, Alan and Flora got along beautifully.

When it came to his own acting, Tony says, the most important advice he ever got from Alan was, "Know what you want in a scene." For a while, though, he wasn't into that scene at all. Despite a few boyhood acting experiences, including a 1967 episode of TV's Daniel Boone, he decided to study music and attended New York's Juilliard School. Fed up with Manhattan after his apartment was burglarized, he moved to Los Angeles in 1977 and switched to acting. His first role was—ha! Poetic justice strikes!—a rock musician on a detective series called Switch. That was followed by parts on Knots Landing, Quincy and Alan's sitcom M*A*S*H (where Robert and Tony appeared together in an episode).

The family name, of course, opened mc than a few doors. But though Robert had starred on Days of Our Lives in 1980 and the soap's executive producer, Ken Corday insists, "Antony won us over during the screen test." Tony's half brother believed the family resemblance helped. "My father was one of the most charming actors of his generation," says Alan, "and there was some of that natural charm and charisma in Tony. Plus, Tony's basic honesty added to that, which made him an appealing person to watch." Tony said it did not bother him a bit that he was less watched than Alan. "It's never been a bummer," he sais. Besides, "it's conceivable that teenagers who haven't seen M*A*S*H might say, 'Hey, that's an Alda—he must be related to Tony.' "

Acting dynasty aside, it was Tony's resemblance to a guy named Jeff that helped him get to know his musician-actress wife, Lori. They met in 1978 in Columbus, Ohio, where he was starring in the musical King of Hearts, and she was playing piano in a nightclub. "I was instantly attracted to him," says Lori. "He had a zest for life." She went home that night to find that her mother had left out a newspaper article about him and the play. "It was so weird," Alda says. "Her mother asked her, 'Doesn't this guy look like Jeff?' He was an ex-boyfriend."

"Marriage was good for Tony," says his mom. "It changed him and made him more mature." But some things—such as practical joking—not even love can cure. When Alda and Lori were starring together in St. Petersburg, Fla., in a play about Da Vinci, one scene called for Alda—as Leonardo—to show Lori his drawing tablet. The script called for her to be overwhelmed by the beauty of a sketch of the Mona Lisa. Instead, says Alda, "I had drawn a penis. Lori started crying out, 'Oh, Leonardo!' She was supposed to be crying, but she was laughing so hard she had tears coming down her face." No, it would probably be easier to reform Johnny Corelli.

Tony Alda passed away on July 3, 2009 in California caused by alcoholism.

Pratt was a co-founder of the Cinema Audio Society and a key figure in the development of the television laugh track.

November 16, 2010

Carroll Pratt, a Primetime Emmy-winning sound mixer who was at the forefront of the development of the laugh track, died November 11, 2010, in Santa Rosa, California. He was 89. According to news reports, Pratt died of natural causes.

Pratt shared six primetime Emmys for 1985’s Motown Returns to the Apollo, 1987 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and the 1989 Grammy Awards.

The son of a sound engineer, Pratt worked as re-recording mixer at MGM. During World War II served in the Air Force and was captured as a prisoner of war in Germany. After about two years of captivity he escaped.

After the war he returned to MGM. During the 1950s he joined forces with Charley Douglass, the creator of the Laff Box, and assisted with the looping of laugh tracks on sitcoms. The business eventually expanded to other human sounds.

As the laugh track increased in popularity among television producers, the business expanded. In the 1970s Pratt and his brother John set up their own company, Sound One. They worked on such sitcoms as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which included the longest laugh he recorded, and Married … with Children.

In addition, he was a founder and past president of the Cinema Audio Society.

John Pratt died earlier this year. Carroll Prat’s survivors include his wife, a son, a daughter, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

On June 12, 2003, Carroll Pratt had the distinction of being interviewed by the Television Academy Foundation’s Archive of American Television. During the two-and-a-half hour interview, conducted in Philo, California by the director of the Archive, Karen Herman, Pratt talked about his start in feature films at MGM in the sound department where his father worked.

He spoke in great detail about the audience reaction (laugh) machine created by engineer Charley Douglass, for whom Pratt worked for after leaving MGM. Pratt described the device and the types of responses that the machine was capable of creating, from whistles to belly laughs.

Pratt went on to describe the updated version of the laugh machine, which he created with his brother, John, in the 1970s, when he split from Douglass and started his own company, Sound One.

Pratt also talked about providing laugh tracks for numerous television series throughout the years (including the longest laugh he ever recorded, for The Mary Tyler Moore Show), until his retirement from Sound One in the mid-1990s.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

William Self, a producer and television executive who was in charge of television production at 20th Century-Fox during the 1960s and early '70s when its list of successful shows included "Peyton Place," "Batman" and "MASH," has died. He was 89.

A former movie actor who launched his television career behind the camera in the early 1950s, Self produced the "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars" for four years.

After producing the short-lived "The Frank Sinatra Show," which aired from 1957 to '58, he became director of development at CBS, where his first pilot was for Rod Serling's landmark series "The Twilight Zone."

In late 1959, Self was lured to 20th Century-Fox Television.

During his 15 years at Fox, he reportedly was responsible for 44 TV series, including "Daniel Boone," "Room 222," "Julia," "Twelve O'Clock High," "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," "Lost in Space," "Land of the Giants," "Nanny and the Professor" and "The Ghost & Mrs. Muir."

"He was a major influence on television programming during that period, and Fox became very successful as a major television-producing company," said Alan Silverbach, who was senior vice president in charge of worldwide television distribution at 20th Century-Fox Television at the time.

"I credit the whole television success to Bill," said Richard Zanuck, who was vice president in charge of production at the studio at the time. "My contribution really was appointing Bill and letting him run with the ball. I had great confidence in him."

One of the biggest hits to come from 20th Century-Fox Television in the '60s was "Batman," the campy fantasy-adventure series starring Adam West as the famous comic-book hero.

But the series pilot didn't go over well with a test audience, Self recalled in a Starlog magazine interview with Tom Weaver in 2002.

"It was," Self said, "a disaster."

Enough so, he said, that ABC wanted to get out of the deal.

"But we analyzed it and thought about it, and finally decided the (test audience) didn't know what we were trying to do," he said. "In the original version, those animated POWs and BAMs (in the fight scenes) and other things like that, were not in the show. We decided we had to say to the audience, 'We're kidding all this. We're having fun. It's a comic strip.' And we re-did the whole post-production on it."

By the time Self left Fox at the end of 1974, he had risen through the ranks to become president of 20th Century-Fox Television and vice president of 20th Century-Fox Corp.

He then teamed with Mike Frankovich to form a company that would be involved in both television and feature films.

Frankovich-Self Productions produced a couple of TV pilots and two movies, both of which were released in 1976: "The Shootist," John Wayne's final film; and "From Noon Till Three," starring Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland.

"I loved the movie business, but it was too slow for me," Self said in a 2001 interview with the Archive of American Television.

In 1977, he returned to CBS as vice president/head of the West Coast; the following year, he became vice president in charge of television movies and miniseries.

Named president of CBS Theatrical Film Production in 1982, he supervised the making of 10 movies over the next three years. He then created the independent William Self Productions to develop television and feature films.

In partnership with Norman Rosemont, he produced a number of productions for television's "Hallmark Hall of Fame," including the high-rated "Sarah, Plain and Tall."

The son of an advertising executive who wrote plays on the side, Self was born in Dayton, Ohio, on June 21, 1921, and earned a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Chicago in 1943.

Exempt from the military draft during World War II for medical reasons, he worked for about a year as a copy writer at an ad agency in Chicago, where he also made his professional acting debut playing a small part in one of his father's plays.

Self moved to Hollywood in 1944 with the intention of becoming a movie actor and landed a succession of mostly uncredited small roles in films such as "Story of "G.I. Joe," "Red River," "Operation Pacific," "Sands of Iwo Jima" and "Adam's Rib."

One of his credited roles was that of Air Force Cpl. Barnes in "The Thing from Another World," the 1951 science fiction-horror classic about a flying saucer that crash-lands at the North Pole.

Although it was a decent part, Self readily acknowledged in the 2001 interview that "not many people cared that I was an actor."

He broke into television in 1952 when a producer friend, Bernard Tabakin, asked him to help on "China Smith," a syndicated adventure series starring Dan Duryea.

The series was so low-budget, Self later recalled in the Television Archive interview, that they shot 13 half-hour episodes in 19 days.

But it was a start. And, as he said in the 2001 interview, "I never acted a day since then."

Margaret, his wife of 66 years, died in 2007.

In addition to his daughter, Self is survived by his son, Edwin; his sister, Jean Bright; four grandchildren; and six great grandchildren.

Claudio Obregón, one of the great Mexican actors in the theater and film, died at age 74 on Saturday night, a victim of respiratory failure.

Remembered for his memorable participation in such films as The Alley of Miracles (as in love with Salma Hayek), De noche vienes Esmeralda, Pedro Páramo and Finding a single man, Obregon is survived by two sons, Claudio and Gerardo.

His remains were veiled in a funeral home last night from Mexico City as reported by Notimex. In 2005 he was awarded the Gold Medal of Fine Arts.

In the theater was part of large pieces such as art, King Lear, All My Sons and Engdame.

He also participated in traditional telenovelas as Toy World, Mama bell and in the nineties in the home at the end of the road with the also deceased Eduardo Palomo, and selfish mothers with Maria del Sol.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Actor Roberto Risso died on November 16, 2010 in Milan, Italy six days short of his 85th birthday. Born Pietro Roberto Strub on November 22, 1925 in Geneva, Switzerland he studied architecture before turning to acting. He made his film debut in 1950s “Il leone di Amalfi” directed by Pietro Francisci which led to his appearance in “Domani e un altro giorno” directoed by Leonide Moguy in 1951 where he played the seducer of Anna Maria Pierangeli. This led to a number of roles as boyfriends and other light weight sentimental roles.

He would gain fame in “Pane, amore e fantasi” (1953) and “Pane, amore e gelisia” (1954) both directed by Luigi Comencini playing a policeman in love with Gina Lollobrigida. His career peaked with his appearance in “Una pelliccia di visione” (1956) directed by Glauco Pellegrini. He appeared with Gordon Scott in “Zorro and the 3 Musketeers” (1963), but his stereotypical roles convinced him to leave films and he turned to television where he appeared on the RAI TV show “Quelli della domenica” hosted by Paolo Villaggio. He then became a fashion designer and appeared in several soap operas. His last film was his only Euro-western appearing as Duke in “Hate Thy Neighbor” (1968) under the pseudonym Robert Rice.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Actor, jazz musician and standup comedian Jack LeMaire, who got his start in vaudeville, died Oct. 18 in North Hollywood, Calif., of natural causes. He was 99.

LeMaire toured with Bob Hope and Johnny Grant doing standup for USO shows, ending each set with a song on his guitar. His passion for playing occasionaly overshadowed his love of comedy, and he can be heard on recordings with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, who nicknamed LeMaire "Chords."

LeMaire started working vaudeville as a toddler with his father, George, in "The Ziegfeld Follies," and soon moved on to film work, making 33 silent comedies with Pathe.

Among his other credits were 1958 TV series "Mac King," 1959's "The Lawless Years" and "Bat Masterson" plus 1964's "The Farmer's Daughters."

Later in life, LeMaire appeared as Colonel Sanders in a number of KFC advertisements. Just last year, he performed in a sketch on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno.

Survivors include a son, two daughters, five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Donations may be made to Actors and Others for Animals at actorsandothers.com.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Marie Osborne Yeats, one of the first child stars of the silent screen, the celebrated “Baby Marie,” passed away, Thursday, November 11, 2010 in San Clemente, California. Born Helen Alice Myres, November 5, 1911, Marie was a native of Denver, Colorado. Her foster parents, Leon and Edyth Osborn(e), introduced their daughter to the movies when they left Colorado in 1914 to work at the Balboa Studios of Long Beach, California. Baby Marie appeared for the first time on screen in Maid of the Wild (1915), playing the part of a small boy. At Balboa, the famous director, Henry King, launched Marie’s stardom with Little Mary Sunshine (1916), and most of Marie’s ten movies at Balboa co-starred Henry King. From age three to eight, Baby Marie made 28 films and most of these movies were produced at her own studio called the Diando Studios, the former Kalem movie studio in Glendale.

By age 12, Marie had left the movie screen, only to return in her twenties with the help of Henry King for his film Caroline (1934). At Fox, Marie also did stand-in work for Ginger Rogers in Change of Heart (1934) and also appeared in the Gay Divorcée (1934); she later did stand-in work for Deanna Durbin. At Paramount, Marie did stand-in work for Betty Hutton. Marie would stop working before the camera altogether as she developed a new talent as a costumer, beginning with the Western Costume Company, then with Republic.

Her work as a costumer included these films: Guys and Dolls (1955) with Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons; This Earth is Mine (1959) with Rock Hudson and Jean Simmons; Spartacus (1960) with Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, and Jean Simmons; Circus World (1964) with John Wayne and Rita Hayworth; The Chase (1966) with Jane Fonda and Robert Redford; The Legend of Lylah Clare (1968) with Kim Novak and Peter Finch; The Way We Were (1973) with Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford; Mame (1974) with Lucille Ball and Bea Arthur, and many others, including The Godfather, Part II, as well as becoming special costumer for Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra (1963).

Marie married twice, to Frank J. Dempsey on May 2, 1931, whom she divorced in 1937. Dempsey was the father of Marie’s only child, Joan, born May 13, 1932. In the 1940s, Marie married Murray F. Yeats on June 14, 1945, a fellow actor with whom she enjoyed a conjugal life till his death on January 27, 1975.

After her retirement, Marie moved to San Clemente in 1977 until her death with her daughter, Joan, and son-in-law Don Young.

Baby Marie always savored the moment, exhibiting a kind and responsible tenderness toward those around her: family, friends, and all living things, including her special appreciation of the animal world. In order of importance, Marie was most grateful for her Roman Catholicism, for her excellent health throughout her full and interesting life, for her cherished daughter, Joan, and for the beauty of nature.

Marie is survived by her loving daughter Joan and son-in-law, Don Young, and their five children, Mark, Gary, Brian, Joyce, and Karen.

Roberto Pregadio died this morning after a brief illness. The announcment was made by members of his family. Born in Catania December 6, 1928, he was a musician, conductor and composer. After graduating from the Conservatorio di Napoli (piano), the pianist became a member of the Light Music Orchestra of the RAI in 1960. Roberto accompanied Claudio Villa in a famous concert at Carnegie Hall in New York in 1961.

In the late 1960's he encounter with a friend, Conrad. Whom he owes hiss fame for his role as a conductor for the the Bulls, first, to Conrad and then, Gerry Scotti. After abandoning a controversial program of Channel 5, which took place in 2009 due to disagreements with its production, he joined the cast of the Recommended Rai1.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

ADDISON POWELL SHELBURNE - Addison Powell, 89, passed away Monday evening (November 8, 2010), to the sounds of Vivaldi and The Beatles, and in the loving company of his three children. A film and stage actor, a WWII navigator, and a son of New England, Powell had lived in Vermont for 22 years, most recently in Shelburne Bay, an independent living community. He loved country walks, landscape painting, good books and a good joke, not to mention Handel on his DVD player and a BLT from Burlington Bay Market. To sit in the cool shadow of birches and pines on the porch of his summer cottage on Lake Champlain, built by his grandfather in 1900, was his great pleasure. He enjoyed a long career as a New York City-based stage, screen and TV actor. He played the CIA heavy in "Three Days of the Condor", a 1970s-era thriller, and his photograph, face to face with that other actor, Robert Redford (Redford's gun is nuzzled under Powell's chin) has appeared around the world. He played the father of the sizzling Jean Seberg in "In the French Style'; a hip bank robber in 'The Thomas Crown Affair' with Steve McQueen; a starchy Admiral Nimitz in "MacArthur", with Gregory Peck; and a hard-boiled detective in "Contract on Cherry Street" with Frank Sinatra. He won an Obie for his performance as Willie Oban in "The Iceman Cometh" at Circle in the Square, a production that included Jason Robards and Peter Falk. On stage, he received fine notices in 'Coastal Disturbances', which featured the Broadway debut of Annette Bening. He did television turns on "Gunsmoke" and "Bob Newhart" and appeared on the first episodes of "Law and Order" and "Mod Squad." He also played the evil Dr. Lang in 'Dark Shadows', a 1960s TV camp classic that years later garnered him the occasional letter from the slightly obsessed fan. He always was thrilled they remembered. Born in Belmont, Mass. in 1921, the son of school teachers, he graduated from Boston University and joined the Army Air Force. Based in East Anglia, he flew 30 missions as a navigator in a B-17. After the war, he graduated from Yale Drama School. In 1950, he married a Michigan girl, Bunnie Rowley and they raised three children in the tightly knit vertical block association that is an Upper West Side apartment building. As his was a life and not a Hollywood movie, he knew joy and disappointments, and out of the complications of the latter came his longstanding membership in the fine fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous. Bunnie died in 1995 and he never remarried. He is survived by his three children and their spouses, Mary Powell and Mark Brooks of South Hero, Julie and Richard Elmore of Westford, and Michael Powell and Evelyn Intondi of Brooklyn. His younger and beloved brother, Edward, also survives him; as do his eight grand- children, Katie, Anthony, Michael, Nicholas, Tony, Aidan, Calvin, and Alexandra. They were his diamonds. Those wishing to make a donation in his memory may do so to either the Sudan Development Foundation 139 Elmwood Avenue Burlington, VT or the Veterans Bedside Network, 10 Fiske Place, Room 328, Mt. Vernon, NY 10550.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Dino De Laurentiis, the flamboyant Italian movie producer who helped resurrect his country's film industry after World War II and for more than six decades produced films as diverse as the 1954 Federico Fellini classic “La Strada” and the 1976 remake of “King Kong,” has died. He was 91. De Laurentiis, who moved to the United States in the 1970s, died in Los Angeles, Italian media reported Thursday morning. In the 1950s, he produced two Oscar-winning best foreign films — Fellini's “La Strada” (with then-partner Carlo Ponti) and Fellini's “Nights of Cabiria” (1957).

In 1962, the prolific producer began building a sprawling studio complex on the outskirts of Rome that he called Dinocitta — Dino City. During the 1960s — he is credited with pioneering the now-common practice of financing films by pre-selling the distribution rights in foreign countries — De Laurentiis produced films such as director Richard Fleischer's “Barabbas,” starring Anthony Quinn; John Huston's star-studded “The Bible”; and Roger Vadim's “Barbarella,” starring Jane Fonda. After selling his studio and moving to the United States in the 1970s, De Laurentiis produced films such as “Serpico,” “Death Wish,” “Three Days of the Condor,” “The Serpent's Egg,” “Ragtime” and “Conan the Barbarian.” But De Laurentiis' name also became synonymous with expensive box-office failures such as “Dune,” “Tai-Pan” and “King Kong Lives.” The son of a pasta manufacturer, he was born Agostino De Laurentiis on Aug. 8, 1919, in Torre Annunziata, some 17 miles from Naples. One of seven children, he dropped out of school at 15 and traveled as a salesman for his father's pasta factory. But he wasn't enamored of the family business. He worked for a time as an extra, stagehand, electrician and director's assistant before changing his first name from Agostino to Dino and launching a production company.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Originally trained as an artist, Taylor thought of his work not as pieces of a wardrobe, "but as a painting." He won an Emmy and a Costume Designers Guild lifetime achievement award.

By Valerie J. Nelson, Los Angeles Times
November 9, 2010

Noel Taylor, an award-winning costume designer whose career spanned seven decades and started almost by accident after artist Marc Chagall sought his help, has died. He was 97.

Taylor, a longtime resident of West Hollywood, died of natural causes Thursday at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, said Patrick Munoz, executor of his estate.

Nominated four times for an Emmy Award, Taylor won in 1978 for costume design for the PBS drama "Actor: The Paul Muni Story." He also had designed for more than 70 Broadway plays, many local stage productions and nearly 30 television shows and films.

At 16, Taylor dropped out of high school to work in the theater and at 22 was starring on Broadway in "Cross Ruff," a play he also wrote.

Trained as a painter, Taylor turned toward costume design when Chagall asked him to help paint costumes in the late 1940s for a New York City Ballet production of "The Firebird." "When I'm doing a costume, I don't think of it as a piece of wardrobe," Taylor told The Times in 1980. "I think of it as a painting."

On Broadway, he was prominent and prolific until his early 80s. In the 1950s, he laboriously dyed fabric for "The Teahouse of the August Moon" and did costumes for "Dial 'M' for Murder," and the early 1960s plays "The Night of the Iguana" and " One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." He was nominated for Emmys for the 1991 Civil War miniseries "Ironclads," the 1982 special "Eleanor, First Lady of the World" and the 1965 Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation of "The Magnificent Yankee."

"He was a brilliantly talented designer," said Rachael Stanley, interim director of the Costume Designers Guild, which gave Taylor a lifetime achievement award in 2004. "His sketches are really pieces of art in and of themselves. One he did of Katharine Hepburn is on my wall."

Before Hepburn would agree to Taylor designing costumes for her 1986 TV movie "Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry," she insisted on seeing samples of his work, according to the 2006 biography "Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn." After Hepburn pronounced his designs beautiful, "we were best friends," Taylor said in the book. He worked with her on several more TV movies.

In 2005, he accompanied Julie Harris to Washington, D.C., when the actress received a Kennedy Center Honor while wearing a Taylor design. Their friendship began "20 plays and 30 years ago," Taylor had told The Times in 1980.

In 1961, when Harris was uncomfortable with a costume for Broadway's "A Shot in the Dark," Taylor said he made another overnight because "nobody ever has to wear anything I make that they don't like."

He was born Harold Alexander Taylor Jr. on Jan. 17, 1913, in Youngstown, Ohio, the second of two sons of a stockbroker and his wife, a painter. At 7, he moved with his family to Paris for two years and acquired
"Noel" as a childhood nickname. In his 20s, Taylor often summered in Austria, where he witnessed the growing discrimination against Jewish people during the rise of Adolf Hitler.

He wired his mother to tell her, "Forget everything you thought you knew," Taylor later said, and solicited her help in raising $200,000 to help exiled Jews. Jailed for participating in illegal meetings, he was released after four days by a sympathetic Austrian interrogator and soon returned to the U.S., he said in several interviews.
During World War II, Taylor was an equestrian trainer for the Coast Guard.

In Los Angeles, he had worked on theater stages both large and small, and had designed costumes for the Laguna Playhouse's "Harvey" in 2003 when he was 90.

He had two major life partners, George Sullivan and artist Adnan Karabay. Taylor is survived by a nephew.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Martin Baum dies at 86; Hollywood agent represented A-list talent. The old-time New York theatrical talent agent became a veteran voice of
experience for the upstart Creative Artists Agency in the late 1970s.

By Claire Noland, Los Angeles Times
November 7, 2010

Martin Baum, an old-time New York theatrical talent agent who became a
veteran voice of experience for the upstart Creative Artists Agency in the late 1970s and who brought to the firm such established star clients as Sidney Poitier and Peter Sellers, has died. He was 86.

Baum died Friday at his home in Beverly Hills, the agency announced. The cause was not given.

"To those of us in his CAA family, Marty was a hero," the agency's partners said in a statement. "He was not only a brilliant agent, but a generous mentor to so many."

CAA founding partners Michael Ovitz, Ron Meyer, Michael Rosenfeld Sr., Rowland Perkins and Bill Haber invited Baum to join CAA in 1977, two years after the ambitious young guns left the William Morris Agency en masse. They coveted Baum's A-list talent roster, but they also saw his value as a shrewd deal-maker.

Baum was known as a "packager," someone who brought together actors, directors, writers and others he represented and then delivered the bundled group to a studio for a film production. One of his early film successes was gathering Poitier, director Ralph Nelson and screenwriter James Poe - all Baum clients - for "Lilies of the Field" in 1963.

And he knew another side of the business. From 1968 to 1971, Baum had been president of ABC Pictures, the television network's motion picture division. He was responsible for such films as "Cabaret," "Straw Dogs" and "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"

As the first head of CAA's motion picture department, he brought credibility as well as an ability to scrutinize projects as a studio executive would.

Baum got his start in the entertainment business in his native New York City. Born March 2, 1924, he served in the Army during World War II. After returning from military duty, he became a stage manager - but the
shows kept flopping, he told a Times reporter in 1969. "Finally, we opened a show in which it seemed everyone lost money," Baum said. "I looked around to see just who had made money in this particular disaster. Only the actors and their agents. So I decided to became an agent."

In 1948, he and another agent, Abe Newborn, formed the Baum-Newborn Agency and began to turn a profit. They sold the firm to General Artists Corp., and in 1960 Baum moved to Los Angeles as the head of GAC's motion picture department. After GAC, Baum took a similar position with the Ashley Famous Agency and then formed his own firm, which later merged with CAA.

At his CAA office in Century City, Baum displayed the Academy Award statuette his client Gig Young won as best supporting actor for the 1969 film "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" Before committing suicide in 1978, Young indicated that he wanted the Oscar to go to Baum, his friend and his agent, who had cast him as the dance-marathon promoter. Jennifer Young, the actor's daughter, sued for the rights to the statuette, but a judge ruled in Baum's favor in 1997. At the time, the agent said he planned to bequeath the Oscar to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences when he died.

Baum's wife Bernice died in 1997. Survivors include his girlfriend of 12 years, Vicki Sanchez; his daughter, Fern; his son, Rich; and three grandchildren.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Actor and nightclub owner Emilio Franco has been gunned down after a suspected 'hit' at his California home.

Franco, 53, was pronounced dead at the scene of the shooting in the 9300 block of Gainford Avenue in Downey, police officials said in a written statement.

The owner of several night spots including Los Angeles club El Farallon.

Police and local reports say Franco was killed when he attempted to confront two suspects thought to be trying to rob Franco's Downey residence in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

One man was wounded at the scene and is being treated at a hospital while police are looking for a second suspect who is believed to have fled the scene after a 'home-invasion robbery'.

Police believe Franco, an actor and singer turned businessman, may have been followed to his home by the suspects before the apparent attempted robbery.

Relatives have since confirmed that Franco's wife and pregnant daughter are alive and were in the home when the shooting took place.

'Officers were dispatched to a possible prowler call with 'shots heard' at a residence on Gainford Avenue,' said a statement from Downey police.

'When officers arrived, family members contacted them and said there were intruders inside the residence.'

Officers said Franco was found lying on the floor of his home suffering from a fatal gunshot wound.

One of the suspects in the deadly intrusion was also found inside the home suffering from a gunshot wound, Downey police Detective Sam Gatfield told the Whittier Daily News.

'That suspect was taken into custody and transported to a local hospital where he is listed in serious condition and expected to survive,' Gatfield added.

A second suspect in the killing was spotted by witnesses fleeing the area on foot and remained at large. He was only described as wearing dark clothing.

Franco's neighbour said the late nightclub owner was a pleasant and personable man. 'My mom use to be the secretary down in Lynwood at El Farallon night club for about 14 years,' she said. 'He was a very funny man, a very helping person and even though he had money he was just a down to earth person. He was really nice. 'I remember on Tuesdays he would do a barbecue for all of his workers on his ranch. It was fun. He would let us borrow his horses,' Renteria added. 'He would always give people whatever he could.'

Franco's residence was said to be in a peaceful and quiet area but an anonymous source quoted by Indiepropub.com suggested the actor and businessman 'had a dark side, with ties to drug dealing'.

The same source alleged Franco's nightclubs in El Monte, Riverside and Lynwood, California, were 'hangouts of the narco-criminal element' and said Franco's death was the result of a 'hit'.

Franco's family could not be reached for comment by local outlets on Wednesday.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

As an L.A. theater director, one of Robert Ellenstein's most notable
productions was his staging of 'Hamlet' using only six actors and no
props. He appeared in more than 20 films and many television shows.

By Keith Thursby, Los Angeles Times
11:01 AM PDT, November 3, 2010

Robert Ellenstein, an actor and director with a varied career, including a long list of Los Angeles theater productions over several decades, died Oct. 28 of natural causes at a nursing home in West Los Angeles, said his son David. He was 87.

Ellenstein also had more than 20 film roles, including "North by Northwest" in 1959 and "Star Trek IV" in 1986, and a long television resume that began in the mid-1950s.

He was the first artistic director of the Company of Angels, co-founder and artistic director of the Los Angeles Repertory Company and a founding member of Theatre West in Hollywood.

The Company of Angels, a longtime nonprofit professional theater in Los Angeles, recently honored him as part of its 50th anniversary.

One of Ellenstein's most notable Los Angeles productions starting in the late 1980s was his staging of "Hamlet" using only six actors and no props.

David Ellenstein, who played Hamlet, said his father's direction was memorable because of "the accessibility and clarity of the production. It glorified the actor and the words."

Robert Ellenstein was born June 18, 1923, in Newark, N.J., where his father, Meyer, was mayor from 1933 to 1941. Ellenstein attended New York University and graduated with a degree in theater from the University of Iowa. He also served in the military during World War II and was wounded in Holland, his son said.

Ellenstein's career started with the Cleveland Play House in 1947. By the time he moved his family to Los Angeles in 1957, he was appearing on such television shows as "The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse" and " Robert Montgomery Presents."

In the 1960s, his stage work included co-starring with Juliet Prowse in the national tour of "Irma La Douce."

Ellenstein directed and was directed by his sons. David is artistic director of the North Coast Repertory Theater in Solana Beach; Peter is artistic director of the William Inge Center for the Arts in Kansas.

The Times in 1992 during a production of "Rocket to the Moon," in which he directed his father. "A lot of what I do is based on what I learned from him."

In 1999, Robert Ellenstein played the title role in "King Lear" for the Los Angeles Repertory Company with Peter Ellenstein directing. Philip Brandes, writing in The Times, said Ellenstein "renders Lear's dark journey with admirable clarity."

In addition to his sons, Ellenstein is survived by his wife of 58 years, Lois; daughter Jan Ellenstein-Keeva of Evanston, Ill.; and four grandchildren.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Michael "Mick" Galloway 85, husband, father, actor. A familiar face on many TV series, including "The Blue Angels" in the early 60s, Michael's career encompassed more than 350 roles on stage, screen and TV.

Born into a family of Boise, Idaho lawyers, Michael was the youngest of four brothers. Following his Air Force service during WWII, he attended the University of Idaho and USC on basketball scholarships. When his athletic ambitions were sidelined by a car accident, Michael discovered his passion for acting and theater.

In 2008, he campaigned vigorously for Obama. His childhood memory of listening to Marion Anderson sing at FDR's Inauguration on the radio with his mother inspired him to post a YouTube video on behalf of that effort.

Michael Galloway is survived by wife Karen, children from his first marriage, Steve Galloway (Ellen) and Kathleen Rogan (Tim), grandsons Sean and Cameron Rogan; and brother, Robert, Michael will be remembered for his humanity, decency, intelligence and a wacky sense of humor.

About Me

Born in Toledo, Ohio in 1946 I have a BA degree in American History from Cal St. Northridge. I've been researching the American West and western films since the early 1980s and visiting filming sites in Spain and the U.S.A. Elected a member of the Spaghetti Western Hall of Fame 2010.